The offbeat brawler is also inspired by an anime and a cult '70s Mexican film.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24342
Grasshopper Manufacture head Goichi Suda, better known as Suda 51, revealed some of the inspirations for the company's No More Heroes series.
"There were really three films that influenced me during that time and they were El Topo, Jackass and Star Wars, and Space Sheriff Gavan, that anime. OK, I meant four films," Suda said to the crowd at the Japanese launch party for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, the second entry in the franchise.
Jackass, with its recent foray into 3D, and Star Wars need no explanation, but most people aren't familiar with the '70s Mexican film El Topo and Space Sheriff Gavan. El Topo is a surrealist and cult movie that follows a take-no-prisoners hero on his quest for enlightenment, and Space Sheriff Gavan is about the eponymous character who must defend Earth from an evil empire.
I may have read the headline wrong, because I feel insulted.
